How sweet it is
to just sit
be still
my heart is still
no agenda
aside from soaking
in Your grace

my spirit floods
with Your whispers
Your breath on my face

my own sweet island
with all of life rushing around
but these quiet hours are not
rushed
but
still

I hear Your sweet voice
the songs You sing over me
Your gentle heartbeat
beneath my ear
as I rest my head
upon Your chest

I exhale praises
for your great love
in the morning

hold promises
of your unfailing
faithfulness
in the evening

You are so much more than
I need
…everything my soul
aches for

Psalm 92:1-2:4
It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to the Most High. It is good to proclaim Your unfailing love in the morning, Your faithfulness in the evening…You thrill me with all You have done for me.

Being grateful changes my world
what I see
how I focus
realizing that there is always enough
to be thankful for
to sit in awe of
to revel over
to be astounded by
to far surpass any struggle
or circumstance I stand in the midst of.

If only I choose to
get my eyes off of
these temporal things
and onto Him.

If i ask Him to show me
open my eyes to see
instead of demand that He do
wonder why He didn’t.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters,
He refreshes my soul.

Beyond all things
I am grateful
that He always refreshes my soul
…always…
when my soul is set on Him alone.

Psalm 23:1-4
The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters,
He refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for His name’s sake.
Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff,
they comfort me.

the weariness still lingers
and my mind is still spinning
and the load doesn’t seem
any lighter.

there’s an ache in my heart
a craving in my soul
and I realize that
it doesn’t get fed
through doing…
but through being.

being still at my Father’s feet
being quiet to listen to His voice
being soothed by His Words
being comforted by His power
being set free by His grace.

my sweet Jesus
why do I insist
on starving my spirit
when all the nourishment i need
is at Your feet
if only i will kneel down
and let You fill me.

Matthew 11:28-30

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

silenced by years of abuse
numbed by the endless time of neglect
and discarded by ones who promised
to love you.

and i hope for you
when you seemingly have no hope
hope that you’ll meet Him
in your day
somehow.

and i pray for me
and for you
i pray that He’ll let me meet you
love you
show His unfailing to you
because that is what He is
…unfailing.

He will never fail or leave or abandon
only hold, carry and comfort.

and i pray that I’m ready
ready with His grace when I meet you
as foul language spews from your mouth
and your dark eyes hate
as coldness seeps from your every breath.

i pray that the morning before i meet you
i have been soaked in grace
filled and covered
so that it overflows onto you.

i pray that day i’m not selfish
offended at the way you’ve spoken to me
and i seem it fitting to put you in your place
but instead kind and somehow encouraging
when nothing in your life seems to be.

Oh Lord, I pray that I’m ready
that day You let me meet your child
that has been rubbed against the harshness
of this world
left silently bleeding and longing
for the healing and hope that comes
only from Your grace.

Today…Lord, today…help me be ready
for today not to be about me
but about the one You’ll let me meet
and overflow Your grace
onto one whose hope is empty.

just breathe
breathe in the power of His Words
that never fail and never return void
breathe in His promises that never fail
His presence that never forsakes

just breathe
breathe in the great and wild love of our great God
no matter what youv’e done
or where you are
no matter how bad you think it is
or how bad you think you’ve been

just breathe
His compassion for you never ends
His adoring eyes never stray from your heart
He longs to wrap Himself around you
protecting you on every side

just breathe
breathe in His consuming love for you
breathe in His forgiveness
breathe in His grace
breathe in His mercy
breathe in His compassion
breathe in His power

He never fails
or forsakes
…ever.

Just breathe.

Lamentations 3:22-24
 ²² The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
      His mercies never cease.
 ²³ Great is his faithfulness;
      his mercies begin afresh each morning.
 ²⁴ I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
      therefore, I will hope in him!”

 ²⁵ The Lord is good to those who depend on him,
      to those who search for him.
 ²⁶ So it is good to wait quietly
      for salvation from the Lord.

all that to say that I won’t be posting (not that I have been ) daily pictures on my blog. If you’re a friend on facebook, I’m still going to keep the pictures there (because it’s way easier to post them). And from time to time I’ll post here…

4.15.11

i love sitting on my porch watching Keith play fetch/catch with our dog, Dylan and the neighborhood boys

the pain reminds this heart that this is not my home.

what if my greatest disappointments

or the aching of this life

is the revealing of a greater thirst this world cannot satisfy. 

(lyrics from Laura Story’s song “Blessings”)

thank you God that this world will never satisfy the deep ache in my heart to know You more and see You more clearly. i get tangled daily in the demands on my physical life all the while my soul longing for moments like these when I just sit at Your feet and soak up Your goodness.

God may my heart be reminded that this world will never be enough.

I will never have enough money

or a perfect enough job

i will never do enough

my house will never be clean enough

i will never be fit enough

eat healthy enough

be a good enough mom

or wife.

But God may my heart know that You are enough. And in You, I am all You want me to be. Even amidst the swirling terror in this world, You are always enough to satisfy my soul. My deepest longing for peace, joy, love, goodness…all filled because of Your great mercy and grace poured out on me daily.

4.2.11

Siesta Scripture Memory Team verse: I LOVE this verse…it’s probably my most favorite memory verse this year. I can’t wait until it is etched in my mind and I can recall it from memory without hesitation.

Philippians 3:8

Nothing is as wonderful as knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

I have given up everything else and count it all as garbage.

All I want is Christ and to know that I belong to Him.

4.1.11

Toby Mac came to our church for a concert and not only was it one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to, but it kicked off our church’s Revolution 2011 weekend where hundreds of students spend a weekend “away” in host homes serving, learning more of God’s Word and having just a blast! It’s so fun to see the students all together singing about being “Jesus Freaks”!

God, I pray that my family – the 5 of us – would do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility we’d consider other better than ourselves. I pray each of us would look not only to our own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Phil. 2:3)

I pray we would not argue or complain about anything so that we may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which we shine like stars in the universe as we hold out the Word of Life. (Phil 2:14-15)

I pray that in view of Your mercy, we would offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to You – that it would be our spiritual act of worship. That we would no longer conform to the pattern of this world, but be continually transformed by the renewing of our minds. Knowing that then we will be able to test and approve what Your will is – Your good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1)

3.31.11

I’m very excited about the new opportunity God has given me to help take our company, Prestige Pools, to a whole new level.

This is my very first drawing…makes you want a pool, doesn’t it?!!

3.30.11

3.27.11

i love that kids can make a jungle gym out of just about anything. I mean who knew that Lowes could be so much fun!?

3.28.11

the kids got to play with friends from the “old neighborhood” – I absolutely love that they’ve all known each other all of their lives and they never miss a beat even if it’s been weeks or months since they saw each other last

3.29.11

beautiful day for a little baseball

3.26.11

all snuggled up for Saturday morning cartoons

3.25.11

Happy Birthday Delaney!

Kaitlyn got to celebrate her friend Delaney in style as they cruised over to the mall in this Hummer limo. All the girls were so excited!

I’ll still do my best to post a picture most days, but here’s just a few to catch up on the past 2 weeks…

3.7.11

isn’t she pretty

3.12.11

Kaitlyn’s first throw in

3.13.11

we got to see Dylan’s art displayed at Showcase of Stars @ JCC. So proud!

3.14.11

March Madness begins

3.16.11

Kaitlyn’s favorite things are tie dye and peace signs,

so for her birthday on Friday, we’re making tie dye shirts for all of us to wear to celebrate her!

3.18.11

Today is Kaitlyn’s 8th birthday!

She loves peace signs and tie dye so we went all out this week with her favorite things.

One of which was that we ALL wore tie dye shirts today…she loved it!

3.21.11

coupons coupons coupons…

3.23.11

i don’t necessarily love spending the time to cut and organize my coupons,

but when I spend $102.44 and save $109.60 on stuff I’m gonna buy anyways, I have to admit I get a little giddy

3.24.11

Last night one of the greatest men of God here on earth went to be with Jesus in heaven. I didn’t know Pastor Billy Hornsby extremely well, but the impact he & his wife, Charlene, have made on my life is permanent. He’s been quoted saying “Spend your life helping others’ dreams come true & your life will be blessed. It’s the best ministry u can have.” Such an amazing legacy he has left behind him of people living passionately for Christ.

2 Timothy 4:7-8 NLT
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.”

3.6.11

the girls decided that they wanted to watch the storm…and eat icee pops!

3.5.11

this year all 3 kids are playing soccer. Today was the first day full of soccer games and all 3 of them were so much fun to watch.

3.4.11

Samantha is sick today and has been sleeping on the couch for most of the day. My heart is so sad when they don’t feel good and there’s nothing I can do. It does give me a chance to just snuggle on the couch with them though